Telee: H-Town Back On The Map!

Interview By: ESTAXX

Today we present you Houston’s own Telee, who is definitely on the emergence of success. Telee’s music is influenced by the likes of legends such as Too Short, UGK, Getto Boys, 8ball, MJG, and Jay-Z. Telee began writing music as a 6th grader, mainly about his neighborhood Acres Home aka “Da 44″ located on Houston’s North Side. He eventually developed his own style that is the product of the playboy life style and growing up in the ghetto.

Ballin’ and Thuggin’ was Telee’s first underground street album which was released in 2001. That was followed by the 2002 release of Side by Side as a member of the group Franchize. After several run in’s with the law, Telee’s music career was temporarily paused. In 2004 he released Shock & Awe the all freestyle mix tape. In 2006 Telee released the monster street single “Riding on Chrome” which immediately generated a buzz throughout the streets of Houston, but again paused by legal troubles. From Here On Out ,released in March of 2010, was Telee’s next release which he felt was his greatest musical creation to the date. This body of work contains classic material that without a doubt raised the bar for Houston hip hop.

Keep It Trill recently had the chance to sit down with Telee for this exclusive interview.

KeepItTrill: You were born and raised in Houston the home UGK, DJ Screw, Z-Ro and others. Can you tell the people as you were growing up who did you listen to?

Telee: Growing up I listened to N.W.A., Too Short, Getto Boys, UGK, Ball & G, Jay-Z, Swisha House, Dj Screw, and myself of course.

KeepItTrill: For those who don’t know, how did you come up with your name?

Telee: Well, when I was a youngster I use to shoot a lot of dice and I always would hear the older cats saying teelee before the games started to see who went first. With my real name being Lee I just pu the T-e in front and ran with it.

KeepItTrill: Who influenced you as an artist?

Telee: I have a few but the most influential would be Jay-Z. Hov has the complete Package: the business mind, the swag, and the flow to bring it all together.

KeepItTrill: You started rapping when you were in the 6^th grade. Do you remember your first rap you wrote?

Telee: Yea it was called “Stanking & Dead” (Laughs). It was influenced by another Houston rapper named Gangsta Nip. It was on some real sick gangsta sh*t…. to this day i still have it.

KeepItTrill: What’s your current label situation?

Telee: As of right now I am the CEO of my own independent label All Family Ent.(AFE)

KeepItTrill: I hear AFE and CTS Media are going to collab on a movie?

Telee: Yea that is definitely an upcoming project in the near future that gives our two labels a chance to create a great visual art for the streets.

KeepItTrill: What can we expect from you in the near future?

Telee: My fourth street album/ mix tape “My Finest Hour” will be dropping early this fall. Im also in talks about a state to state promo tour.

KeepItTrill: If you had the opportunity to choose what label you would sign to, what would it be and why?

Telee: I would have to say it would be one of the major distributors like Interscope, Def Jam, Warner Bros. ect…, mainly because Im not really looking for an artist deal Im trying to get a distribution deal for my label as a whole. But if the money right I will consider signing an artist deal.

KeepItTrill: What projects have you been working on?

Telee: Right now i just finished up “My Finest Hour” and I’ve started selecting tracks for my next project “From Here On Out part 2″. Besides that I just been collabing with other artist and Djs on their projects and enjoying life.

KeepItTrill: How can producers submit beats for your upcoming projects?

Telee: Producers can email me beats at Telee06@gmail.com or hit me up on twitter @Telee_AFE

KeepItTrill: To wrap things up, can you tell us your definition of what it means to “Keep It Trill”?

Telee: To me keeping it trill means staying true to yourself and just being a stand up guy, not doing things that you don’t take pride in.

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